Role of New Zealand Forests in Global Climate Change Mitigation

Environmental Economics and Policy,

Optimal Forest Rotations with Environmental Values and Endogenous Fire Risk

This paper develops a model that solves for the optimal economic harvest rotation problem to maximize revenue of an even-aged forest plantation when there is a risk of a catastrophic forest fire. The paper also investigates the feasibility of using fire prone stands for carbon sequestration and estimates the effects that it would have on the optimal management regime and rotation age empirically using a typical Douglas-fir stand in the Pacific Northwest. The model incorporates risk-reducing management practices that allow risk and growth to be endogenous, and the optimal rotation model is solved using numerical simulation techniques. Results show that higher carbon prices increase the rotation length regardless of the probability of fire and that the frequency of risk-reducing management practices increase as the stand approaches the optimal harvest age. Results also indicate that intermediate fuel treatments can provide economical and environmental benefits, even with a high probability of fire.Carbon sequestration, Stochastic risk, Forest management, Optimal rotation, Silviculture, Forest fires, Climate change, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The Impact That Organizations and Managers Have on the Gender Wage Gap

The Gender Wage Gap has been documented since the 1960s yet women still face disadvantage in their earnings compared to their male counterparts today. Many scholars attribute the gender wage gap to human capital factors such as educational attainment and workforce experience. While human capital factors are not irrelevant, organizational factors better explain the gender wage gap. In addition to explaining the organizational factors that influence the gender wage gap, I will delve into the pivotal role managers play in maintaining the gender wage gap

Exchange Rates and the Competitiveness of the US Timber Sector in a Global Economy

This paper examines the competitiveness of the US timber industry under different exchange rate policies using a dynamic optimization model of global timber markets. We assume that exchange rates affect the cost structure of harvesting and managing forests and simulate the model for baseline conditions and four additional exchange rate policies. Two policies consider a strengthening United States dollar scenario and two policies examine weak South American currencies. Recently South America has increased its share of global timber production and is shipping increasing quantities of timber to the Unites States. The results indicate that US competitiveness in the forestry sector is sensitive both to strong US $policies and to the weak currency policies pursued by South American governments. A 20$ compared to all other currencies can reduce harvests by 4 7% in the United States over the next 50 years, while a similar reduction in currency values in South America can reduce U.S. production by around 0.4%. In dollar terms, each additional cubic meter of wood produced in South America due to currency policies can reduce producer surplus in the United States by $100.International Relations/Trade,

Embryonic POU5F1 is Required for Expanded Bovine Blastocyst Formation.

POU5F1 is a transcription factor and master regulator of cell pluripotency with indispensable roles in early embryo development and cell lineage specification. The role of embryonic POU5F1 in blastocyst formation and cell lineage specification differs between mammalian species but remains completely unknown in cattle. The CRISPR/Cas9 system was utilized for targeted disruption of the POU5F1 gene by direct injection into zygotes. Disruption of the bovine POU5F1 locus prevented blastocyst formation and was associated with embryonic arrest at the morula stage. POU5F1 knockout morulas developed at a similar rate as control embryos and presented a similar number of blastomeres by day 5 of development. Initiation of SOX2 expression by day 5 of development was not affected by lack of POU5F1. On the other hand, CDX2 expression was aberrant in embryos lacking POU5F1. Notably, the phenotype observed in bovine POU5F1 knockout embryos reveals conserved functions associated with loss of human embryonic POU5F1 that differ from Pou5f1- null mice. The similarity observed in transcriptional regulation of early embryo development between cattle and humans combined with highly efficient gene editing techniques make the bovine a valuable model for human embryo biology with expanded applications in agriculture and assisted reproductive technologies

MODELING ALTERNATIVE POLICIES FOR GHG MITIGATION FROM FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURE

A key consideration for development of energy and climate policy affecting the forestry and agricultural sectors is that the selection of specific mechanisms implemented to achieve bioenergy production and/or greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation targets may have substantial effects on landowner incentives to adopt alternative practices. For instance, the prices of allowances and offsets are expected to diverge under some policies being considered where there is a binding cap on the quantity of offsets from the agricultural and forest sectors. In addition, provisions that limit or exclude specific practices from receiving carbon payments will affect the quantity and cost of GHG mitigation opportunities available. In this study, the recently updated Forest and Agriculture Sector Optimization Model with GHGs (FASOMGHG) was used to estimate GHG mitigation potential for private land in the contiguous U.S. under a variety of GHG price policies. Model scenarios suggest that U.S. forestry and agriculture could provide mitigation of 200 – 1000 megatons carbon dioxide equivalent per year (Mt CO2e/year) at carbon prices of $15 to$50/tCO2e. Binding limits on offsets have increasingly large effects on both the total magnitude and distribution of GHG mitigation across options over time. In addition, discounting or excluding payments for forest sinks can reduce annualized land-based mitigation potential 37-90 percent relative to the full eligibility scenario whereas discounting or excluding agricultural practices reduces mitigation potential by less than 10 percent.Climate policy, energy policy, FASOMGHG, GHG mitigation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, C61, Q42, Q54,

Monocytes regulate the mechanism of T-cell death by inducing Fas-mediated apoptosis during bacterial infection.

Monocytes and T-cells are critical to the host response to acute bacterial infection but monocytes are primarily viewed as amplifying the inflammatory signal. The mechanisms of cell death regulating T-cell numbers at sites of infection are incompletely characterized. T-cell death in cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) showed 'classic' features of apoptosis following exposure to pneumococci. Conversely, purified CD3(+) T-cells cultured with pneumococci demonstrated necrosis with membrane permeabilization. The death of purified CD3(+) T-cells was not inhibited by necrostatin, but required the bacterial toxin pneumolysin. Apoptosis of CD3(+) T-cells in PBMC cultures required 'classical' CD14(+) monocytes, which enhanced T-cell activation. CD3(+) T-cell death was enhanced in HIV-seropositive individuals. Monocyte-mediated CD3(+) T-cell apoptotic death was Fas-dependent both in vitro and in vivo. In the early stages of the T-cell dependent host response to pneumococci reduced Fas ligand mediated T-cell apoptosis was associated with decreased bacterial clearance in the lung and increased bacteremia. In summary monocytes converted pathogen-associated necrosis into Fas-dependent apoptosis and regulated levels of activated T-cells at sites of acute bacterial infection. These changes were associated with enhanced bacterial clearance in the lung and reduced levels of invasive pneumococcal disease

Which executive functioning deficits are associated with AD/HD, ODD/CD and comorbid AD/HD+ODD/CD?

Item does not contain fulltextThis study investigated (1) whether attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) is associated with executive functioning (EF) deficits while controlling for oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (ODD/CD), (2) whether ODD/CD is associated with EF deficits while controlling for AD/HD, and (3)~whether a combination of AD/HD and ODD/CD is associated with EF deficits (and the possibility that there is no association between EF deficits and AD/HD or ODD/CD in isolation). Subjects were 99~children ages 6–12 years. Three putative domains of EF were investigated using well-validated tests: verbal fluency, working memory, and planning. Independent of ODD/CD, AD/HD was associated with deficits in planning and working memory, but not in verbal fluency. Only teacher rated AD/HD, but not parent rated AD/HD, significantly contributed to the prediction of EF task performance. No EF deficits were associated with ODD/CD. The presence of comorbid AD/HD accounts for the EF deficits in children with comorbid AD/HD+ODD/CD. These results suggest that EF deficits are unique to AD/HD and support the model proposed by R. A. Barkley (1997).17 p

Macrophage Subset Sensitivity to Endotoxin Tolerisation by Porphyromonas gingivalis

Macrophages (MΦs) determine oral mucosal responses; mediating tolerance to commensal microbes and food whilst maintaining the capacity to activate immune defences to pathogens. MΦ responses are determined by both differentiation and activation stimuli, giving rise to two distinct subsets; pro-inflammatory M1- and anti-inflammatory/regulatory M2- MΦs. M2-like subsets predominate tolerance induction whereas M1 MΦs predominate in inflammatory pathologies, mediating destructive inflammatory mechanisms, such as those in chronic P.gingivalis (PG) periodontal infection. MΦ responses can be suppressed to benefit either the host or the pathogen. Chronic stimulation by bacterial pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), such as LPS, is well established to induce tolerance. The aim of this study was to investigate the susceptibility of MΦ subsets to suppression by P. gingivalis. CD14hi and CD14lo M1- and M2-like MΦs were generated in vitro from the THP-1 monocyte cell line by differentiation with PMA and vitamin D3, respectively. MΦ subsets were pre-treated with heat-killed PG (HKPG) and PG-LPS prior to stimulation by bacterial PAMPs. Modulation of inflammation was measured by TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10 ELISA and NFκB activation by reporter gene assay. HKPG and PG-LPS differentially suppress PAMP-induced TNFα, IL-6 and IL-10 but fail to suppress IL-1β expression in M1 and M2 MΦs. In addition, P.gingivalis suppressed NFκB activation in CD14lo and CD14hi M2 regulatory MΦs and CD14lo M1 MΦs whereas CD14hi M1 pro-inflammatory MΦs were refractory to suppression. In conclusion, P.gingivalis selectively tolerises regulatory M2 MΦs with little effect on pro-inflammatory CD14hi M1 MΦs; differential suppression facilitating immunopathology at the expense of immunity